Many electronic devices, such as computers and stereos, include a circuit board that contains the device""s circuitry and/or components for operating the device. For example, a circuit board may include a microprocessor component for executing instructions and a memory component for storing data. These and other components are frequently mounted to a circuit board and coupled to a circuit of the board by attaching a small conductive lead of the component to a conductive pad on the circuit board. When electronic devices malfunction or when the design or manufacture of the device is not complete, a technician often tests/diagnosis the device by probing the component leads with a probe coupled to a measuring device such as an oscilloscope.
To probe a lead of a component that is attached to a circuit board, the technician typically contacts a conductive tip of the probe to the node and then holds the probe with his/her hand to maintain contact. Thus, probing a lead typically requires the technician to use one of his/her hands to support the probe.
Holding the probe with a hand while testing/diagnosing an electronic device, however, is often clumsy and awkward. Frequently, testing/diagnosing requires a technician to probe a circuit and/or component for long periods of time, and thus, often requires the technician to hold the probe for a long period of time to complete the test/diagnosis. Holding the probe for a long period frequently tires the technician""s hand, wrist and/or arm, which can cause the technician to lose contact between the probe and the signal lead of a component. If contact is not maintained, the signal sensed by the probe may be degraded or lost, and the test/diagnosis may be inaccurate. In addition, testing/diagnosing an electronic device frequently requires a technician to operate the controls of the measuring device (oscilloscope) while probing the component. This often causes the technician to lose his/her concentration on maintaining contact between the probe and the lead of the component. Furthermore, testing/diagnosing an electronic device may require contacting two or more probes to respective component leads, and thus, require two or more technicians to hold the probes, which may be difficult in a tight space and is often an inefficient use of resources.
A solution to this problem is to use a probe with a conductive tip in the shape of hook to help the technician maintain contact between the tip and the signal lead of the component. For example, FIG. 1 shows a conventional probe 10 contacting a component 12 mounted to a circuit board 14 to probe the component 12. The component 12 includes a signal lead 16 attached to a node 17 of the circuit 14. The probe 10 includes a conductive tip 18 in the shape of hook that contacts and grabs the signal lead 16 when the technician pulls the probe 10 away from the component 12.
Unfortunately, this solution has a problem. To maintain contact between the conductive lead 16 and the tip 18 of the component 12, the technician must continue to pull the probe 16 away from the component 12, and thus must hold the probe 10 during the testing/diagnosing of the component 12.
In one aspect of the invention, a signal probe tip includes a conductive tip to contact a signal lead of an electronic device, and a mount to hold the tip against the lead. With such a probe, a technician no longer has to hold the probe to maintain contact between the signal lead and the probe tip.